Void Ab Initio Marriages
Void Ab Initio Marriages
Void Ab Initio Marriages
Article 4. The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage
void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35 (2).
A defect in any of the essential requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage but the
party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and
administratively liable.
Article 35
1. Those contracted by any party below 18 years of age even with consent of the
parents or guardian;
3. Those solemnized without a marriage license except those covered by the preceding
chapter.
a. Article 27 In case either or both of the contracting parties are at the point of
death (Articulo Mortis), the marriage may be solemnized without necessity
of a marriage license and shall remain valid, even if the ailing party
subsequently survives.
Note:
Article 31 A marriage in articulo mortis between passengers or crew
members may also be solemnized by a ship captain or by an airplane pilot
not only while the ship is at sea or the plane is in flight, but also during
stopovers at ports of call.
Note: Article 29. In the cases provided for in the preceding articles, the
solemnizing officer shall state in an affidavit before the local civil registrar or
any person legally authorized to administer oaths that the marriage was
performed in articulo mortis or that the residence of either of the party is so
located that there be no means of transportation to enable such party to
personally appear before the local civil registrar and that the officer took the
necessary steps to ascertain the ages and relationship of the contracting
parties and the absence of any legal impediment to the marriage.
For the purpose of contracting the subsequent marriage under the preceding
paragraph the spouse present must institute a summary proceeding as provided in
this Code for the declaration of presumptive death of the absentee, without prejudice
to the effect of reappearance of the absent spouse.
5. Those contracted through mistake of one party as to the identity of the other;
Article 53 Either of the former spouses may marry again after compliance with the
requirements of the immediately preceding Article (compliance to the requirement
of annulment or nullity of the marriage); otherwise, the subsequent marriage shall be
null and void.
Article 36. A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration,
was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of
marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after
its solemnization. (As amended by Executive Order 227), prescriptive period to file
the action for marriage nullity is 10 years after the celebration. No prescription for
other instances.
Article 36 of the Family Code requires that the incapacity must be psychological —
not physical. although its manifestations and/or symptoms may be physical. The
evidence must convince the court that the parties, or one of them, was mentally or
physically ill to such an extent that the person could not have known the obligations
he was assuming, or knowing them, could not have given valid assumption thereof.
Although no example of such incapacity need be given here so as not to limit the
application of the provision under the principle of ejusdem generis, nevertheless
such root cause must be identified as a psychological illness and its incapacitating
nature explained. Expert evidence may be given qualified psychiatrist and clinical
psychologists.
Article 37. Marriages between the following are incestuous and void from the
beginning, whether relationship between the parties be legitimate or illegitimate:
(2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half blood. (81a)
Article 38. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning for reasons of
public policy:
(1) Between collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the
fourth civil degree;
(2) Between step-parents and step-children;
(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;
(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter;
(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;
(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that
other person's spouse, or his or her own spouse.
Summary
Article 2 No marriage shall be valid, unless the following requisites are present:
1. Legal capacity of the contracting parties which must be a male and a female;
a. Both are 18 years old or above
b. Both are legally not prohibited to marry
2. Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer
VOIDABLE MARRIAGE
Article 45. A marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time
of the marriage:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was eighteen
years of age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage was solemnized without the
consent of the parents, guardian or person having substitute parental authority over the
party, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely
cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife; (Lack of parental
Consent, Age Requirement)
(2) That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason, freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife; (unsound Mind)
(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards,
with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife; (Fraud)
(4) That the consent of either party was obtained by force, intimidation or undue influence,
unless the same having disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely cohabited with
the other as husband and wife; (vitiated consent)
(5) That either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the
other, and such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or (Impotence)
(6) That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to be serious
and appears to be incurable. (STD)